Saturday, September 05, 2015

Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said Friday he will oppose the nuclear deal with Iran, a
decision that won't derail the agreement but hurts the Obama
administration's efforts to keep a resolution against the deal from
reaching a vote.Cardin's decision — which came the same day a 38th Senate Democrat,
Michael Bennet of Colorado, declared his support for the deal — has been
one of the most anticipated among lawmakers. Not only is Cardin a key
foreign relations committee member, but he's also Jewish and helped
author a bill that gave Congress review power over the agreement.

Good for Ben.

That deal is beyond stupid and a lot of people are going to be looking stupid for supporting it.

Whores like David Swanson for example.

I 'loved' his b.s. last week where you were smart if you were for the deal but you were evil and a neocon and blah blah blah.

This is the same David Swanson, let's remember, who started e-mailing Rebecca, pretending to be her friend and then forwarding her e-mails to Lennox Yearwood and who knows who the hell else?

Ben took an unpopular stand with a shrieking group.

I don't know if it was the right stand but I respect it.

I think it was a courageous stand considering the howler monkeys like Swanson.

Friday, September 4, 2015. Chaos and violence continue, that's not egg on Antiwar.com's face, the Ashraf community has waited two years for answers and a response to a kidnapping, and much more.

Shock sweeps Antiwar.com as the civilian death deniers like Margaret
Griffis who have repeatedly and knowingly insisted daily that this
bombing killed these 'militants' or 'terrorists' now are confronted with
a reality much uglier than anything they've ever seen in the mirror.

The US Department of Defense says Canadian fighter jets
killed dozens of Iraqi civilians in an airstrike against the Daesh
(ISIL) terrorists in the country earlier this year.The
Pentagon documents obtained by CBC News revealed that the warplanes
killed as many as 27 civilians during a January attack against ISIL in
northwest of Mosul.

Ahead of attempts to recapture Mosul, Kurdish forces
launched an operation that reclaimed a large amount of territory. Airstrikes
and fighting in that region reportedly left hundreds of militants dead, but
there is, so far, no independent confirmation of any casualty figures. Assuming
they are correct, however, that would leave 361 dead and 19 wounded
across Iraq.

Kurdish forces killed
more than 200 militants in a large operation near Mosul that allowed
them to gain back a 300-square-mile area and liberate several villages. In the
city, militants killed dozens of members of the Gahaish tribe and
arrested dozens more.

And here's Griffith the day before that:Canadian troops have been directing
air strikes from the ground in northern Iraq, according to Brig. Gen. Mike
Rouleau, the commander of Canadian special forces. Also, it was revealed that a
firefight involving the Canadian troops last week took place near the Mosul
Dam. However, those soldiers were not engaged in directing the strikes at the
time.

But here's Alice Ross (Guardian) on the new disclosure of civilian deaths:The US-led coalition’s bombing of Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria, which has been described as the “most precise ever”,
faces allegations that civilians have been killed in 71 separate air
raids.A spokesman for US central command (Centcom) disclosed the claims to
the Guardian. Many of the claims have been dismissed, but he said 10
incidents were the subject of fuller, formal investigations. Five
investigations have been concluded, although only one has been
published.To date, the coalition acknowledges civilian deaths in a single
strike: in November 2014 a US strike on Syria killed two children, a
Centcom investigation published
in May found. Centcom said it will only publish investigations where a
“preponderance of evidence” suggests civilians have died.

An English-speaking Peshmerga soldier told
the U.S. military that as many as 27 civilians died during aerial
bombardment by Canadian pilots, American military documents show.

However,
the Canadian military made it clear to the United States shortly after
the alleged incident that it felt no obligation under the Geneva
Conventions to probe what happened, the Pentagon records show. “It
should be noted that Canadian Joint Operations Command [legal advisers]
opinion is that, under the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) there are no
obligations for the Canadian Armed Forces to conduct an investigation,”
the documents say.

It seems like just yesterday -- but it was Tuesday's snapshot -- that we were noting how lying -- and it is lying -- by the press and faux press allows war to continue.

Specifically, that Antiwar.com's decision to parrot officials claims as
facts -- and not even identify them as claims -- is not "antiwar" but
"pro war" and continues war.

When the deaths of civilians are covered up, the truth of war is hidden and obscured.

Antiwar.com has made the decision to daily pimp the lie that bombs
dropped from the air only fall on "militants" and "terrorists." No one
forced them to do that.

When Judith Miller did similar things, she and the New York Times were rightly mocked.

And Margaret Griffis and Antiwar.com sell war, peddle death, by passing claims and lies off as truth.

If war is sanitized and precise, there's no need to worry about civilian deaths, right?

While Margaret Griffis and Antiwar.com go deeper into denial about the
harm their own actions have caused, they may tend to hide behind, "One
incident."

Actually know.

There are said to be many incidents that the Pentagon can document.

Michael Edwards (Australia's ABC) reports:The United States Central Command report lists alleged civilian
casualties caused by coalition aircraft in Iraq and Syria between
September 2014 and April of this year.One incident details an
Australian raid on a suspected IS weapons factory, that appears to have
taken place on December 21 last year.The report said 10 minutes after the last bomb was dropped, a woman and child were observed within the targeted area.A man then arrived and took the child away on a motorbike, and the woman was seen walking to a median strip where she lay down.The
document is based on reports by coalition pilots and/or ground forces
and lists dozens of other possible civilian casualty incidents.

Here are the questions posed by CBC's the fifth estate and
the answers provided by the Department of National Defence on the issue
of a Pentagon report that suggests a Canadian airstrike near Mosul, Iraq
on Jan. 21, 2015 may have led to civilian casualties.the fifth estate: Please provide more specifics about the information that was provided by the source of the allegation.

Department of National Defence: As
this particular review was led by U.S. Central Command, for any further
information, please contact U.S. Central Command Public Affairs.

the fifth estate: How was it determined through the review that all of the targets hit that day were enemy combatants?

DND: The
Coalition Headquarters conducted a review of all available reliable
imagery and video. The review uncovered no evidence of civilian
casualties. Furthermore, it was re-confirmed that the target struck by
Canada was a valid military objective from which ISIS was firing a heavy
machine gun (HMG) at Iraqi Kurdish troops. The area in question is
still within ISIS-held territory in Iraq.As this particular
review was led by U.S. Central Command, for any further information
please contact U.S. Central Command Public Affairs. In addition, the CAF
thoroughly reviews all completed Canadian airstrikes. The CAF review
identified that there were no substantive grounds to believe that
civilians had been killed. Furthermore, subsequent to the allegations,
there was no information from the Iraqi Security Forces or government
suggesting there may have been civilian casualties.

Hey, you think Margaret Griffith and Justin Raimondo, if questioned
about their constantly insisting that air strikes killed "militants,"
would say, "As this particular review was led by US Central Commnad, for
any further information please contact US Central Command Public
Affairs"?

Maybe so.

And maybe it's time for people to stop being so stupid or suck-ass?

Dahr Jamail wrote a piece of crap recently that he pretended was about Iraq.

It was partisan whoring -- shame on you, Dahr.

That a middle school student could have written.

But in it, he praised the work done by Griffith.

That work that conceals civilian deaths?

That's how you're going out on Iraq, Dahr?

Disgracing and distancing from your own work as a real reporter in Iraq and not an embed?

Just to suck up?

Do us -- and yourself -- a favor Dahr, just shut up about Iraq.

Before you tarnish your reputation further, just don't cover it.

You clearly haven't kept up. You clearly don't know current events.

And all you do is embarrass yourself.

So just stop while some of your image is still intact.

It really is something how Panhandle Media has held Corporate Media to a
set of standards but feel no need to measure up to the same ethical
standards.

Imagine living in a world with standards that were applied equally and fairly -- what would a media in such a world look like?

Meanwhile, has Death Whore Margaret Griffith learned a damn thing?

No.

No, not one damn thing.

She starts her writing on Thursday's violence with this:

The Canadian government is denying
reports that their warplanes killed civilians during airstrikes in northern
Iraq. A Peshmerga soldier reported the event, which allegedly took place in
January. Meanwhile, a U.S. report lists
several incidents where Australian forces may have also killed civilians.

She's linking to National Iraqi News Agency which has the good sense --
more sense than Griffith or Antiwar.com had -- to note these are figures
supplied in statements by Iraqi government ministries.

Oh, wait, it gets worse.

We've railed -- for a year now -- against Griffith and Antiwar.com parroting officials.

Use those links and realize it's far worse.

Her count of Thursday's deaths?

If that's a typical count, her work is now in shreds.

Use the links and these Thursday deaths are actually Wednesday and Tuesday.

So her daily count is not based upon the number of deaths reported a day
but actually the daily count is based upon when she discovers deaths.

Meaning if, on Thursday, she discovers deaths from Tuesday, she just lumps them into her Thursday count.

What great work from Margaret and Antiwar.com -- (a) it actually
promotes war and (b) the numbers aren't even correct in terms of being
reported.

Justin Raimondo has written how many columns trashing disgraced reporter Judith Miller?

At what point does he turn that critical focus onto his own outlet?

He doesn't like the Ashraf community, finds them 'creepy' so he used his outlet's power to ridicule them.

Because that's 'journalism,' right?

Deciding a group of persecuted people are 'icky' so refusing to treat them fairly?

That's 'journalism,' right?

Background: As of September 2013, Camp Ashraf in Iraq is empty. All remaining members of the
community have been moved to Camp Hurriya (also known as Camp Liberty).
Camp Ashraf housed a group of Iranian dissidents who were welcomed to
Iraq by Saddam Hussein in 1986 and he gave them Camp
Ashraf and six other parcels that they could utilize. In 2003, the US
invaded Iraq.The US government had the US military lead negotiations
with the residents of Camp Ashraf. The US government wanted the
residents to disarm and the US promised protections to the point that
US actions turned the residents of Camp Ashraf into protected person
under the Geneva Conventions. This is key and demands the US defend the
Ashraf community in Iraq from attacks. The Bully Boy Bush
administration grasped that -- they were ignorant of every other law on
the books but they grasped that one. As 2008 drew to a close, the Bush
administration was given assurances from the Iraqi government that they
would protect the residents. Yet Nouri al-Maliki ordered the camp
repeatedly attacked after Barack Obama was sworn in as US President. July 28, 2009
Nouri launched an attack (while then-US Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates was on the ground in Iraq). In a report released this summer
entitled "Iraqi government must respect and protect rights of Camp Ashraf residents,"
Amnesty International described this assault, "Barely a month later,
on 28-29 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed into the camp; at
least nine residents were killed and many more were injured. Thirty-six
residents who were detained were allegedly tortured and beaten. They
were eventually released on 7 October 2009; by then they were in poor
health after going on hunger strike." April 8, 2011,
Nouri again ordered an assault on Camp Ashraf (then-US Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates was again on the ground in Iraq when the assault
took place). Amnesty International described the assault this way,
"Earlier this year, on 8 April, Iraqi troops took up positions within
the camp using excessive, including lethal, force against residents who
tried to resist them. Troops used live ammunition and by the end of
the operation some 36 residents, including eight women, were dead and
more than 300 others had been wounded. Following international and
other protests, the Iraqi government announced that it had appointed a
committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as on
other occasions when the government has announced investigations into
allegations of serious human rights violations by its forces, the
authorities have yet to disclose the outcome, prompting questions
whether any investigation was, in fact, carried out." Those weren't
the last attacks. They were the last attacks while the residents were
labeled as terrorists by the US State Dept. (September 28, 2012, the designation was changed.) In spite of this labeling, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed that "since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of
Camp Ashraf 'noncombatants' and 'protected persons' under the Geneva
Conventions." So the US has an obligation to protect the residents.
3,300 are no longer at Camp Ashraf. They have moved to Camp Hurriyah
for the most part. A tiny number has received asylum in other
countries. Approximately 100 were still at Camp Ashraf when it was
attacked Sunday. That was the second attack this year alone. February 9th of 2013, the Ashraf residents were again attacked, this time the ones who had been relocated to Camp Hurriyah. Trend News Agency counted 10 dead and over one hundred injured. Prensa Latina reported, " A rain of self-propelled Katyusha missiles hit a provisional camp of
Iraqi opposition Mujahedin-e Khalk, an organization Tehran calls
terrorists, causing seven fatalities plus 50 wounded, according to an
Iraqi official release." They were attacked again September 1, 2013 -- two years ago. Adam Schreck (AP) reported back then that the United Nations was able to confirm the deaths of 52 Ashraf residents.

It's anniversary time for the Ashraf community and Tweets throughout the week have been noting that:

Chair Ros-Lehtinen told McGurk she wanted regular updates on the
T-walls and how many are being put up to protect the Ashraf community
from mortar attacks. He stated that there were "about 14,000 now" ready
to be assembled and put up. But US House Rep Brad Sherman pointed out
there were 17,000 T-walls up when he last visited Iraq, up at Camp
Liberty, but now they're are less than 200. Clearly, T-walls were taken
down (by the orders of Nouri al-Maliki although McGurk insists it was
because of the desires of the Ashraf community). US House Rep Dana
Rohrabacher had one of his constituents stand. The man lost family in
the September 1st attack. He was one of the Ashraf community supporters
who regularly attend hearings wearing yellow (they also turned out in
full force to protest Nouri's visit to DC). US House Rep Ted Poe noted
them in his remarks to McGurk, "These people that are here, working
people, Americans, and they are concerned about people that they love in
Iraq. And they constantly are losing friends and family members to
attacks." These attacks have lasting effects and the State Dept has
done very little.

US House Rep Joseph Wilson: . . . but a real tragedy has been the
murders at Camp Ashraf. Since December 2008, when our government turned
over the protections of the camp to the Iraqi government, Prime
Minister Maliki has repeatedly assured the world that he would treat the
residents humanely and also that he would protect them from harm. Yet
it has not kept the promise promise as 111 people have been killed in
cold blood and more than a thousand wounded in five attacks including
the September 1st massacre, what is the United States doing to prevent
further attacks and greater loss of life in terms of ensuring the safety
and security of the residents

Brett McGurk: Congressman, first let me say thank you for your-your
service and your family's service. Speaking for myself and my team
who've spent many years in Iraq and have known many friends we've lost
in Iraq, it's something we think about every day and it inspires our
work and our dedication to do everything possible to succeed under very
difficult circumstances. Regarding Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty, the
only place for the MEK and the residents of Camp Liberty to be safe is
outside of Iraq. Camp Liberty is a former US military base We lost
Americans, right nearby there, as late as the summer of 2010. We lost a
number of Americans to rocket fire and indirect fire attacks and our
embassy compounds were the most secure facilities in the country as
late as the summer of 2010, that was when we had about 60,000 troops in
the country in the country doing everything that they possibly could do
to hunt down the rocket teams that we knew were targeting us. Uh, there
are cells in Iraq -- we believe directed and inspired from Iran --
which are targeting the MEK, there's no question about that. And the
only place for the MEK to be safe is outside of Iraq. That is why the
State Dept and the Secretary have appointed a colleague of mine,
Jonathan Winer, to work this issue full time. to find a place for them
to go. Right now, there's about 2900 residents at Camp Liberty and
Albania's taken in about 210, Germany's agreed to take in 100 and that's
it. We need to find a place for these - these people to go. It is an
urgent and humanitarian issue, an international humanitarian crisis.
And I went to the camp to meet with the survivors, to speak with the
families, and what they told me and I promised them to do everything I
possibly could to get them to safety. Uh, it is incumbent upon the
Iraqi government to do everything it possibly can to to keep them safe
-- and that means the T-walls and the sandbags and everything else. Uh,
but the only place for the residents to be safe is outside Iraq. Since
the tragic attacks at Camp Liberty on September 1st 1300 Iraqis were
killed, 52 people were massacred at Camp Ashraf. This was a tragic,
horrifying act. But since then, 1300 Iraqis in the country have been
killed. The country is incredibly dangerous and the MEK, to be safe,
have to leave Iraq and we want to find a place for them to go.

US House Rep Joseph Wilson: Well I appreciate your commitment to
that. After the September 1st massacre, the State Dept called for an
independent investigation by the United Nations. 74 days on, nothing's
been done, let alone an independent investigation. Could you tell this
Committee whether any independent probe has been carried out or not? If
so, by whom and what is the finding? If not, why not? Five attacks
have been launched against the residents and not one person has been
arrested. What do we do to maintain promises of protection?

Brett McGurk: Uh, Congressman, shortly after the attack, we worked
with the United Nations to make sure that they got a team up to Camp
Ashraf within 24 hours of the attack to document exactly what happened
because there was a lot of stories about what happened. They went there
took photographs of the bodies to make sure that it was documented as
to how these people were killed and there's no question about it. We
have looked very closely at all of our information I know that I've-I've
had the opportunity to brief some members of the Subcommittee in a
classified setting which I'd be pleased to do again to update you on the
information that we have. We did call for an independent investigation
and for the UN to be involved in this process. The UN was also
involved in making sure that the survivors got out of Camp Ashraf and
out of harms way to get to get to Camp Liberty. But, again,
Congressman, I would welcome the opportunity to brief you and discuss
with you in a classified setting everything we know that happened on
September 1st.

Here's a question. Why did it take the September 1st attack for the
State Dept to hired someone to work on the issue? In fairness to
Secretary of State John Kerry, maybe the question should be why, in four
years, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't hired anyone? Or
how about why did she fight a federal court for years before taking the
MEK off the terrorist list?

And that person hired? John Kerry's personal friend but no one in the
press elected to report that, did they? He did nothing. And he no
longer has the job. Must be nice, when you need an extra pay check and
something to brush up your resume, to have John Kerry pay you -- well to
have the US tax payer pay you -- to do nothing.

Kerry should be hauled before Congress and asked to explain exactly what his friend did while on the US government payroll?

Thursday, September 03, 2015

Worse than a bunch of overweight Peter Pans would be Hand of God which appears to exist solely to ask the question if there's anything Dana Delany won't stoop too?

She seemed like such a talented actress on China Beach but would a
talented actress have been repeatedly upstaged by a supporting
character. Yes, the supporting character, KC, was played by Marg
Helgenberger who is an acting miracle. But Dana had the focus of each
episode and the best written scenes. Still Marg walked away with the
show.

Dana followed up China Beach with the film Exit to Eden in which she played a character who spanked Paul Mercurio but whose heart really wasn't in it.

America did not feel her pain and the film flopped.

Which is the story of all of Dana's films except for Housesitter, the Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin comedy.

Most of her post-China Beach work has been bad TV. Body of Proof offered her a change of pace and a bit of quality for two seasons -- sadly, the show ran for three.

Delany destroyed the show.

Having a hit show wasn't enough for Delany who didn't enjoy certain
things about the show. She didn't, for example, like that audiences
loved Nicholas Bishop so she got behind firing him after the second
season. She wanted more than Bishop fired, she wanted Jeri Ryan fired
as well. The producers were ready to go along with that -- ABC was not
willing to fire Ryan.

So the producers just sidelined Jeri's character for all but one
episode, the sixth one, "Fallen Angel." Also known as the highest rated
episode of season three.

When Delany was filming China Beach, Ron Perlman was making CBS' Beauty and the Beast with Linda Hamilton. He and Delany team up to make Deathwish with a religious twist.

There is no reason for this show to exist and you'd have to be ethically
corrupt or unable to be hired for any other role to join the cast of
this trash.

Apparently, what Ava and C.I. can see in real time takes Deadline a year and a month to grasp.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Chaos and violence continue, Haider
al-Abadi blames officials for crimes and calls them terrorists, Baiji is
again lost, more reports of US forces on the ground in Iraq (not on
bases), the White House may ignore the legal obligation to the Ashraf
community but the community is not forgotten, and much more.

AFP reports, "Gunmen kidnapped at least 18 Turkish employees of a company building a
football stadium in Baghdad on Wednesday, officials said, but it was not
immediately clear who was holding them." NINA notes the kidnapping took place in the Sadr section of Baghdad. And, of course and no surprise, First Post adds of the assailants, "Masked men in military uniforms kidnapped 18 Turkish employees of an
Ankara-based construction company in Baghdad early Wednesday, bundling
them into several SUVs and speeding away, Iraqi and Turkish officials
said."

But never accuse the military or the militia in Iraq -- not even when it
turns out it was them. Ignore that fact in every subsequent report and
just continue to pretend there's a mad tailor in Baghdad churning out
impostor uniforms.

Iraq Times notes a Baghdad police source states that armed militia (which one is unidentified) stole the 3 SUVs earlier that day. All Iraq News reports Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi responded by declaring this was all a conspiracy by "corrupted officials" while Kitabat notes he vowed to pursue the wrong doers as terrorists.

Alsumaria reports Baghdad Operations Command issued a statement announcing they were opening an investigation into the kidnappings.

In Friday's snapshot,
we were noting the lack of progress in the fight against the Islamic
State. It's even worse today. It's no longer just that the year-plus
campaign that's failed to retake Mosul and seen Ramadi seized.

The government also admits that the ongoing battle with ISIL near the
oil refinery at Baiji (on the Tigris River between Baghdad and Mosul 200
kilometers north of Baghdad) is crucial. Security forces have been
unable to keep ISIL away from the refinery. The ISIL attacks generally
involve suicide car bombs and gunmen. These attacks are usually repulsed
within a few hours. ISIL seems willing to suffer as many as several
hundreds of casualties a week with these attacks. ISIL has been fighting
here since mid-2014 and despite being defeated and pushed back many
times, keeps returning with suicide bombers and mobs of suicidal gunmen.
This year all these ISIL offensives have been repulsed but the security
forces are so far unable to push the Islamic terrorists far enough away
to restart refinery operations. The Beiji refinery can process 320,000
barrels of oil a day and that represents more than a quarter of Iraq's
refining capacity. Until ISIL is cleared out of Baiji a major advance on
Mosul will not be practical.

Haider was in DC when Baiji was threatened (the oil refinery -- not in
use -- was overtaken by the Islamic State) and when the Islamic State
made it's move on Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province.

What to do, what to do, Haider apparently debated.

Before sending the Iraqi military to Baiji to 'protect' a basically abandoned oil refinery.

The people of Ramadi?

He would wait and wait before sending the Iraqi military there.

Reminder, Ramadi fell to the Islamic State and remains under IS control.

Well, he didn't save the people but at least Haider saved that oil refinery, right?

Some members of the American led coalition providing air support are
openly questioning the tactics and procedures being used. There are
accusations from within the American intelligence community that
political leaders are hiding the truth about how the restrictive ROE
(Rules of Engagement) are crippling the air offensive against ISIL in
Iraq and Syria. Another problem with the use of more ground control
teams is the American political leadership wanting to put more of them
on the ground while American military commanders believe that the risk
of these U.S. troops getting killed or captured outweighs the benefits
of more precise air strikes. That's because the ROE is obsessed with
avoiding any civilian losses from air strikes and ISIL exploits this by
regularly using human shields.Meanwhile the United States and
Britain have very quietly brought in more special operations troops to
fight ISIL in the "ISIL Homeland" of western Iraq and eastern Syria. The
American and British commandos in Syria have apparently been operating
together on raids, scouting missions and assisting the local Kurds and
other armed anti-ISIL groups. One reason for keeping the commando
presence quiet is that it is largely concerned with collecting more
intelligence on ISIL. This means interviewing locals who deal with ISIL
and observing ISIL operations in areas ISIL believes they are safe. The
commandos want to make those areas less safe and, sooner rather than
later, free of ISIL presence. Many of the locals agree with that.

So US forces, as Al Mada had previously reported, are on the ground accompanying Iraqi forces on missions?

In addition, Wael Grace (Al Mada) reported this week on what the people of Nineveh Province were seeing: US forces joining Iraqi forces in combat.The residents say this is not 'consulting' or 'advising' but that US forces are actually taking part in on the ground combat.

So with Grace's report and Strategy Page, is there a reason the US press
isn't noting that US forces are on the ground in Iraq -- off 'training
bases' -- and taking part in military exercises?

Before US President Barack Obama began bombing Iraq from US warplanes in
August of last year, he'd already publicly declared (June 14, 2014)
that the only answer to Iraq's various crises was a political solution.

Then came August 2014 and, of course, he forgot all about that and just focused on dropping bombs.

ISCI leader Ammar al-Hakim: A political settlement in #Iraq
would end 60% of terrorism in one day.

8 retweets8 favorites

As previously noted in the last months, Ammar al-Hakim is already
powerful via his leadership of the Shi'ite political organization the
Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq.

He was also seen as a US ally for years.

Then something happened in the summer of 2014 which caused a break.

Some say Ammar did not feel the administration courted his opinion,
others say he was upset that the US didn't back him to be the new prime
minister (instead going with Haider al-Abadi).

Whether it was either of those, both or some other reasons, the US and
Ammar experienced a public break that, had the State Dept not wasted all
their time on Iran, could have been fixed.

Instead it festered and, for the first time in his public career, Ammar began publicly criticizing the US government.

This has taken place over months and in public and the US State Dept has done nothing to rectify it.

And now there are rumors that the powerful Shi'ite bloc the National
Alliance is on the verge of naming Ammar its leader. As the leader of
SICI, he's already powerful. Were he to be named head of the National
Alliance, he would be arguably the most powerful political leader in
Iraq.

And the US government?

Unable to even keep basic promises or follow the law.

I'm referring to the Ashraf community now.

When Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, a number of dissident Iranians came to
Iraq. They were part of the Socialist MEK group. They were considered
criminals in Iran for their political goals and aims.

Saddam protected them.

When the US invaded in 2003, the US government asked them to disarm.

They resided on Camp Ashraf -- hence their being known as the Ashraf
community -- and because they disarmed, they fell under the Geneva
Conventions -- they became protected people with a legal obligation on
the part of the US government to ensure their protection.

Barack has repeatedly looked the other way as the Ashraf community has
been attacked. They were forcibly moved to Camp Liberty. They have
continued to be attacked there.

At least 7 were kidnapped by Iranian forces -- and all the State Dept's
Brett McGurk could do was spin and lie when Congress asked him about it.

There is no protection for the Ashraf community despite the fact that the US government is legally obligated to protect them.

(This obligation is only in force while they are in Iraq. The US could
quickly relocate the remaining members to other countries and be done
with the legal obligation.)